Brian in Whitby Loc: Whitby, Ontario, Canada

Beginner is easy to understand. The person is new to photography and has little understanding of the technical aspect.
Intermediate photographers have a good understanding and application of the technical aspects and are beginning to use some creative techniques.
Advanced photographer have mastered the technical aspects and routinely use them to make arresting photos that stand out from the rest. Advanced photographers usually have specialized in one or two types of photography and

Professional photographer do it for money. The only criterion is that the professional makes a significant portion of their income from photography. They are not necessarily advanced or even intermediate. They have a method that works and pleases their boss or client. They may or may not be very artistic. (Please don't call me a professional. The art is more important to me that the money.)

Larrymc Loc: Mississippi

My take on this is there are amateur and professional photographers some in both groups are either more or less advanced than others in those groups. Grouping as beginners etc. are pointless as explained by others. Just my opinion. Me, I'm a total amateur.

JohnSwanda Loc: San Francisco

The OP was asking about descriptions of the skill level of photographers. Being a professional photographer, by your own definition, says nothing about level of skills.

rook2c4 Loc: Philadelphia, PA USA

That's the best laid out set of criteria for the different categories of photographers I've read so far. I like it!

Nightski

I really like the way you have differentiated between professional and advanced photographers. There is the photographer that comes into the schools and takes a picture of every kid in the school and then sells packages. Every shot is the same, no creativity involved. The portraits are generally good, but nothing special. A photographer can make a very good living doing that, but it really has nothing to do with being creative.

Dana C Loc: Buhl, Idaho

This question is sort of like the old, "How many angels can dance on the head of a pin?"

Nightski

I'm not really sure what you mean. Apparently there are some photography clubs that place photographers into categories before they judge their photographs.

The question is: Is there a standard for determining the skill level of a photographer?

I'm not sure how that relates to angels and pins ...please explain.

DHunter Loc: Arkansas

I would categorize myself as a "Paid" photographer/videographer and aerial mapping photographer for 30 years.

My employers used all of my work.

I now describe my self as "freelance" and I shoot primarily for my satisfaction while living on retirement income from the 30 years of work.

While additionally, I profit from my personal work.

Shooting for a long term employer I learned to shoot to show the best depiction of the subject at hand. "Documentation" Photography.

During that time I also was able to apply my opinion of subjects as well as shoot for my self satisfaction at work and off for selected subjects.

One thing I did learn and avoid was claiming to be a "Professional or Expert" while testifying in court.

The opposition can grill you to an unmerciful definition of that although I have had Judges to tell a lawyer to sit down, that I had established by my presented work that I was capable of capturing the actual appearance of a subject.

It seems to me as with other aspects of photography that ones designation or level of photography is usually someone else's opinion and not of any value.

Shoot for yourself satisfaction in most cases and do not try to conform to someone else's opinion of any parameters or appearance.

I have the full time freedom to do that on a daily basis now.

Nightski

I love that. DHunter ... never admit you know anything!:lol:

JohnSwanda Loc: San Francisco

I think the angels and pins was a way of saying it can't be answered. For clubs and competitions, they will define the skill level in their own way. Otherwise, there is no standard - beginner, intermediate, and advanced are general categories which everyone is going to define differently.

amehta Loc: Boston

These levels, beginner/intermediate/advanced (I like to include expert as a 4th) are about skill level. A completely different question is amateur/professional, which is about income/sales.

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Professional: earns a significant portion of their income from photography (the IRS requires 50%, I believe).

Amateur: does not do photography "for a living".

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Expert: knows how to use the subject, background, light, and camera to produce exactly the image they want to produce.

Advanced: generally knows how to use all four aspects, but not at the same level of detail.

Intermediate: has a good sense of the subject and camera, but less understanding of how to use light, and often forgets about the background.

Beginner: sees what they like, sometimes frames it well, can aim the camera, perhaps focus and set some exposure settings. Getting a "good" shot is more a combination of the camera and luck than their skill.

Nightski

You're always so organized. :-) Thank you, Amehta!

amehta Loc: Boston

Thanks. To make it even simpler:

professional/amateur: money
expert/advanced/intermediate/beginner: attention to detail

Racin17 Loc: Western Pa

Yup....a beginner I am...

josephnl Loc: Irvine,, CA

I'm not sure that the percentage of keepers necessarily distinguishes the amateur from the advanced photographer. Some years ago I had the acquaintance of a professional photographer who did many photoshoots for Naional Geographic. This was in the film era and well before the days of digital imaging. He told me that when he was shooting an assignment for NG (and there were very many), he was told some specifics that they wanted shots of, but otherwise he was free to shoot what he thought was appropriate for the article they had in mind. He was also told approximately how many photos were thought to be needed for the piece. He told me that he would shoot at least 100 photos for each image that was needed for the article. His exact words were "the better the photographer, the bigger the waste basket". So, to this superb professional photographer, the percentage of "keepers" was 1% at best!